


Something Good

by flibbertygigget



Series: The Other 51 [41]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Lounge Singer AU, Maria Cosway is a Lounge Singer, Polyamory, Post-Reynolds Pamphlet, cheek kisses, implied depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 15:18:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7513208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flibbertygigget/pseuds/flibbertygigget
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the wake of the Hamilton telling the world about their affair, Maria Reynolds doesn't know who to turn to. Angelica Church invites her to watch a lounge performance by one of her closest friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something Good

**Author's Note:**

> Kinda vaguely based on this prompt from the hamiltonwlw Tumblr:
> 
> Person A and Person B go to a concert. Things to consider: What kind of music do they listen to? Is the concert more for one woman than the other? What all do they bring? Do they have seats or is it the kind of place you put out a blanket and listen?

Maria Reynolds looked out the window of her shoebox apartment. Most of the view was taken up by the drab brick wall of the next apartment over, but if she angled her gaze just right she could get a glimpse of the sky. Not that that meant much now. November in New York City was a drab, cloudy, wet month, a fact that was doing nothing good for her mood.

Maria doubted that she would have been able to summon up a smile even if it had been the most beautiful summer day. After Alexander, she had suddenly found herself alone. Her ex-husband had ceased all contact with her, letting her get all of the blame; her former friends had all abandoned her when they realized that she couldn't be the glittering socialite anymore. The only two people she was in contact with on any regular basis were her divorce attorney, Aaron Burr, and Angelica Schuyler.

It had been a surprise when Angelica had contacted her in the wake of things falling apart. As Alexander's sister-in-law, Maria would have expected her to hate and blame her like everyone else did, but instead it was almost the opposite. Angelica not only didn't blame her for her role in ruining her sister's life, but seemed to actually sympathize with her. Which was why Maria was staring out the window, still in her pajamas at nearly 3 in the afternoon.

Angelica had invited her to a lounge.

"It's not fancy, just wear what you would to your job," she had said. "My friend is singing there over dinner this Friday. Want to come?" And Maria, in spite of her better judgement, had agreed. So here she was, staring at her closet from across the room, unable to muster up the nerve to walk over and commit to getting dressed up for dinner.

It was just dinner. If she kept telling herself that, maybe she would believe it. It was just dinner, it didn't mean that Angelica was actually on her side, it didn't mean anything, but Maria couldn't keep that little voice in the back of her head away.

Was it a date? What if Angelica didn't like what she was wearing? What if she was too casual or too fancy? What if it wasn't a date and Maria was just reading too far into things? What if she was so completely unlovable that the only way for her to get a date was out of pity?

Maria finally managed to force herself off the bed and over to the closet. Her hands trembled as she picked out a midnight blue cocktail dress. It was too fancy for what Angelica had told her, she knew that, but... Maria wanted to impress her. Even if it wasn't actually a date, even if they were just friends, she wanted to show Angelica that she wasn't just a pathetic mess or, worse, a femme fatale who had actually enjoyed ruining lives.

While she was aware enough to admit that, yes, she had loved the time she had spent with Alexander, she would never have listened to James if she had known what it would lead to.

Midnight blue dress on, makeup done, Maria had nothing to do but wait and worry. At a quarter to 5 she heard a knock on her door. Forcefully trying to school her face into something resembling calm, Maria opened it and almost gasped.

She had known that Angelica was attractive, but she had never before been able to positively say that she found someone stunning. As it turned out, the fancier dress had been a good call, as Angelica was wearing what could be only called a gown made of deep emerald green satin. While Maria hadn't bothered straightening her hair and opted for a simple half ponytail, Angelica's hair had been put up in an elaborate updo, thin gold chains woven through her dark curls. Maria could have just stood there, staring at the vision before her, until the end of time, but of course Angelica had different ideas.

"Sorry for coming so early," she said. "I wanted to get there at the beginning of Maria's set. If you need more time..."

"No, no, I'm good," Maria squeaked, wincing at how her voice betrayed her. "Who's Maria?" Angelica laughed.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. She's the friend I told you about. Her name's Maria Cosway, and she is honestly one of the best singers that I have ever seen. She could have been an opera singer if she hadn't fallen in love with jazz. We were roommates back in college."

"Oh," Maria said. When Angelica had invited her, she had spent hours in front of the mirror, trying to figure out how to carry on a normal human conversation, but now that she was here she seemed to have lost every safe, neutral topic that she had carefully rehearsed. Luckily, Angelica didn't seem to mind her utter lack of conversational skills, leading her out to the waiting taxi in a haze of perfume and Billie Holiday.

The entire ride to the lounge was a blur for Maria. She managed to muddle through alright, she thought, nodding along as Angelica darted from subject to subject like a butterfly and occasionally making a vague comment when her friend paused. Angelica's perfume was close and tasted of something sharp and heavy, cinnamon and vanilla and citrus. Part of Maria wanted to lean in, to bury her nose in Angelica's neck or hair and just breath it in.

When they arrived at the lounge, Angelica paying for the taxi and first drinks because "I was the one to invite you, don't worry about it," Maria finally managed to begin to relax almost against her own will. It was a novelty to not have to be constantly checking to make sure that the person she was with wasn't only there to gather more gossip for the dregs of New York high society or tell her ex-husband about her whereabouts. At least with Angelica she could be fairly certain that she actually wanted to be with her. Why else would you invite the person who was half the affair that ruined your sister to your friend's set at a classy lounge?

The man on the small stage at the front of the room finished, bowing as the patrons clapped politely. Maria felt Angelica's hand squeeze her wrist.

"Maria's next," Angelica whispered. Maria sipped her mint julep, but then she almost spit it out as she saw the woman who came onstage.

It had to be Maria Cosway, she knew that, but she couldn't quite believe it. Dark brown hair just peeked out from under a black hijab that complimented her tailored suit, her cheeks glistened with a faint dusting of gold blush over her cheekbones. She looked out over her audience, somehow managing to seem to meet every eye in spite of the low lights. And that was before she started singing.

Maria stared, drink forgotten. Maria Cosway's voice was smooth, tantalizing, slipping beneath Maria's skin and into her body and blood and soul. When she breathed, she felt as though she was drinking in each perfect note. Angelica hadn't been kidding when she said that Maria Cosway was an excellent singer. They may have been old jazz tunes, familiar to everyone and beloved by almost no one, but from her... well, from her they sounded as though they had never before been recorded. She wove a spell, and Maria was only too happy to fall under it.

If Maria had bothered to glance over, she would have seen Angelica looking between her and Maria Cosway, a soft smile sneaking onto her face.

At length the set ended, and Maria clapped loudly, ignoring how the other customers looked at her with slightly annoyed expressions. Then Angelica stood, and Maria felt a moment of absurd panic. Was Angelica leaving her here, in the middle of this room full of strangers? But then Angelica held out her hand, and Maria was suddenly calm, confident that, no matter what, her friend would not abandon her here for no reason.

"Come on," Angelica said. "I'm going back to see Maria." Maria jumped up, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. The idea of meeting Maria Cosway, of being able to see her without the fourth wall of the stage separating them, seemed half sacrilege, but now that she was invited she couldn't say no. She couldn't resist the idea of being able to be in that beautiful, magnetizing presence for even a second longer than her allotted time onstage, like a child who sees an unguarded cookie box.

The backstage area was even dimmer than outside, lit by bare ghost lights that gave the entire area an otherworldly aura. Despite that, Maria was able to pick out Maria Cosway almost instantly. The singer came over to them, and Maria shrunk back as she and Angelica greeted each other, hugging just a second too long to be casual.

"How have you been?" Maria Cosway says. Her voice is just as beautiful when she isn't singing, and Maria can already feel herself falling. She always had a weakness for words. Alexander wooed her with letters and papers, and now, unknowingly, Maria Cosway was doing the same with her songs and voice.

"You always read the paper. I've been better," Angelica said. Maria nodded, cupping Angelica's cheek with her hand.

"Of course, of course," she said. "But you are well enough to enjoy my performance, are you not? I expect many flattering comments from you."

"You know that I never flatter," Angelica said with a laugh. "If I compliment you, it is only the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

"You always say the kindest things," Maria Cosway said, and then she turned, seeming to see Maria for the first time. "And who is your charming friend, my dearest Angelica? You have neglected to introduce us for too long."

"I'm Maria," Maria said, voice small and trembling. "Maria Reynolds. I'm- Um, Angelica invited me. To see you. I mean, obviously it was to see you, but I was invited her to see. You." Maria Cosway glanced at Angelica, a hint of a smile on her lips, and Maria could feel her face growing hot. She was making a fool of herself in front of the two most attractive women she had ever seen, and nothing she could say would make this any better.

"She is charming," Maria Cosway said, declaring it as though it was a simple fact, and somehow that confidence made Maria believe her. "You always choose your lovers well, Angelica."

"Oh, I'm not-" And there went Maria's fleeting confidence. God, she must have been pathetically obvious for someone who she had just met to cotton on that she was hopelessly lusting after her only friend.

"Yes, you are. I have seen that look on Angelica's face often enough to know it." Maria Cosway moved close to her, close enough that, if she had dared, Maria could have reached out and touched her. "Do not worry. She and I... we have a complicated relationship. There is no need for jealousy among any lovers that we may have."

"So you... you and her..." Maria was hopelessly lost. Maria Cosway laughed slightly and bent down, giving Maria a soft kiss on the cheek.

"Naam, habibtaa," she said. Maria had no idea what the singer had said, but from the look on Angelica's face she could guess that it was something that she would like. Maria Cosway turned to Angelica. "Perhaps we shall discuss the particulars of our arrangement in the lounge over drinks?"

"I think that would be nice," Angelica said. "After all, knowing Maria, this may turn into something a bit more permanent." The two women each took one of Maria's arms and led her out to the lounge. Maria could feel nothing but numbed joy and thankfulness. She didn't know what she had done to deserve having two beautiful women apparently perfectly willing to let her in on their relationship, but nothing comes from nothing. Somewhere in her wicked, miserable past, she must have done something right, and that - that was what made hope flare within her for the first time for years.


End file.
